Pity
by stphne
Summary: A man and a woman; that's all we really are when it comes down to it. AU. Lemon. Warning: Possible OOC and swearing.
1. Chapter 1

The characters are a little OOC, but that's mostly because it doesn't take place in the Naruto universe, and I'm going with that they are around the age of 25, and not pre-teens/teens. It makes sense, since they are in a bar after all.

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto and I never will.

* * *

The smoky atmosphere that penetrated though out the bar almost seemed to magnify the effect of the woman's mused hair and darkly outlined eyes as she laughed with her friends and gave him discreet, sultry glances though her heavy lashes. She made a movement, as though to excuse herself, before making her way through the crowd. "Naruto" she breathed; it wasn't the first time he's breathed like that for him, "Naruto, I seem to have forgotten something in my car," her fingers gently traced over the muscles in his arm as she leaned in and finished her sentences with a whisper in his ear, "come get it with me." He could feel her lips just barely brush the helix of his ear.

"You're a big girl, you can handle it yourself," he found himself saying as he mocked her just she did those months ago. His judgment slowly wavered as she continued stroking his arm and pushing little breaths against his ear.

"I'm pretty sure I can't," she replied before capturing his ear lobe in her mouth and gently sucking it, "It's so dark, who knows what's out there." Her wondering hand had managed to find his leg and was now stroking his thigh. His eyes slowly closed in pleasure and his breathing became unsteady. His conscience whispered of the consequences of the possible actions of tonight.

"F-for protection only, right?" His stuttered sentence failed to sound as confident as he hoped, as his judgment was completely eclipsed by his growing lust. Her tongue moved up the spine of his ear before returning back to his lobe for a brief nibble.

Standing abruptly, he took her hand in his as he strode out into the crisp night. An unseen malicious smile adorned her face as the night air berated her face before moving to completely submerging him into the situation.

Reaching the car, her lips violated his own and pushed him back against the car. The fierceness of the transgression registered in his mind, but was not headed. She ground against him as she coerced his tongue into battle. He heard the soft click of the car unlocking. The door was flung open and she quickly pushed him inside and following before shutting the door. Upon the close of the door, she immediately continued her actions as her roaming hands traveled down his torso.

She broke the kiss, cooing about the heat on the inside of the car before removing her shirt. Her hand slowly reached towards his face and, in a gentler motion, cupped his face and brought it closer; the very picture of love, if only it wasn't so posed. Her lips met his in a soft movement of flesh against flesh, one hand still resting against his cheek as the other fingered the bottom of his shirt. The hand holding his shirt slowly brought it up, passing over his abdominals and his pectorals where she systematically broke the kiss again to allow the shirt to pass over.

'This is the first and last time' he had told her all those months ago, his conscience telling him that taking advantage of her in her time of need was wrong but was silenced with the feel of her lips on his for the first time. "I guess you can't keep promises." She told him before fixing a smile and pressing her hips into his.

Her lips formed a smirk as she moved down to press burning imprints of her lips into his torso, marking her sin against him and memorializing his sin against her. Her hands reached his jeans, slowly undoing them and sliding them down. Lips met lips again as a sense of déjà vu enfolded him again, yet there was nothing he could do to stop the vicious cycle as his body responded to hers; his lips moved against hers as his treacherous hands moved up the sides of her body to remove her bra and down again to remove her jeans and cup her ass.

Their shoes were long gone along with other various articles of clothing. He lifted his hips in compliance to her demand to remove his pants as both pairs of jeans joined the floor. He kissed down her neck stopping to suck on her clavicle as he switched positions.

Her back now rested against the cushion of the seat, massaging her on the way down. He gently rubbed her legs as he parted them caringly before gently pushing inside. His already uneven gasping rapidly grew more erratic with each thrust inside of her and greatly contracting with her smooth, even breaths. Her fingers lifted and entangled in his locks as her body met his chest-to-chest, her lips locking on the side of his neck and her moans pushing him further to the edge. Slowly she began moving her legs and arms. Fingers, now disentangled from his hair, now stoke his back as she changed position again, her being on top of him. She moved so slowly against him, languidly grinding into him and elongating her pleasure, as well as his torture. He was getting close – she knew it. "I love you," Naruto managed to gasp out as she finally pushed him over the edge with one last push.

"I know." Sakura replied coldly as the cool night air rushed to take her place against his abused body. Her eyes wondered over the brutal masterpiece that lie before her, "Pity I don't like you."

* * *

First attempt at a sex scene. It wasn't supposed to be 'hot' or 'sexy', I mean, It's about a person using another person for sex and is supposed to analyze their (not refering to Sakura and Naruto's) relationship. In no way am I saying Sakura is a skank. I respect her as a (fictional) person, and think she is really quite lovely. Tell me how it was, however, if you are just going to say the same thing as the person below you, just don't. I am also implying that something has happened in the past that would cause Sakura to want revenge on Naruto. 


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, so, because so many people were missing my implication of Sakura's past experience with Naruto, I have taken the liberty to write it up. Warning: there is another lemon in it. And if you're going to flame or criticize my story, at least make sure you can spell and articulate your thoughts and feelings, okay? A great example would be **Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain's** review. Thanks for that, by the way, I really appreciated your review. This is a flashback of sorts. There will be one more chapter after this, no more, no less.

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.

* * *

She never did look as beautiful as she did that night all those months ago. She looked like she had gone through hell and back; her hair, once artfully done up, was mused to the point of near tangles and her enchanting coal-lined eyes now cried rivulets of tears, marring her ivory skin. It was the middle of the night: her appearance devilish and all he could think about was how celestial the night made Sakura look.

He calmly enfolded Sakura into his arms and gently brought her to the steps of her house, secretly enthralled that she would choose him to comfort her. Sakura began heaving sobs into his chest now that she was sure no one would wake because of her. He softly shushed her. "It's okay. It'll all be okay. I'm here now."

She looked up at him and, with green eyes brimming with tears and her voice choked over with emotion, slowly and haltingly told him what happened. She begged him not to go after Sasuke-kun and he didn't because right now she needed him more than he needed to beat that bastard up. He wrapped his arms around her again as she laid her head back on his chest, breathing heavily as sometimes a sob escaped past her pink lips.

Finally she pulled her head back from his chest, unwinding from Naruto's comforting grip but not moving away. "I was so stupid," she said with a broken laugh. "He told me he didn't love me. Right from the start he said, 'Sakura, I don't love you and never will.' I foolishly thought I could change that. Somehow make his heart start to feel again. I was wrong. I was so wrong." Another tear pooled in her jade eyes. She turned her body towards Naruto. "Naruto," she began softly, her eyes refused to look at him. "You still like me, don't you? I'm not incapable of being like, right?"

She was broken; so very heart-wrenchingly broken. Naruto inwardly cursed the bastard for what he did to this girl; this sweet, loving, caring girl who did nothing wrong but love him. "Of course, Sakura, of course I love you. Nothing in the world would change that. I love you and I will always be here for you, no matter what happens," he flashed a small smile down at her, leaning down towards her face, "believe it." He gently kissed her brow, the one everyone else thought to be so broad but that he found to be endearing. His lips remained pressed to her forehead and he slowly brushed the stray tear from her cheek, her perfect, silken cheek made of her perfect, ivory skin.

He slowly backed away, his eyes still closed. He had gone too far. Naruto expected a stinging slap or maybe the sound of feet hitting the concrete sidewalk not too far from where they sat to greet him when he finally opened his eyes.

However, what he did not expect was a slight pressure upon his lips, quick and hovering like a hummingbird to shock him out of his post-stupid-action stupor. His eyes fluttered open. Sakura refused to look at him; her head was turned all the way to one side as she settled for quick glances at his stunned face. She was biting her lip.

Naruto slowly brought his hand around to cup her chin. He moved it slowly to face him as he leaned his head down and brought his lips to hers. The two pairs of lips were just millimeters away, their breaths mingling between them before he finally firmly applied his to hers in a release of tension, of longing, and of comfort.

He wished he could say that she was his first, his most chaste kiss. He wished he could say that so much. However, what it lacked in chastity, it made up for in being the most memorable kiss he had ever had.

The kiss was intense and moving far too quickly for his liking. He couldn't stop, however. No. He couldn't stop. He was a car speeding over a ravine and Sakura was the small animal at the bottom unaware of its impending fate.

Something in that kiss, some element of it had triggered something within Naruto. Something he thought he had suppressed long ago when she first started dating Sasuke. But now it was back, one of her arms was wound loosely around his neck as one softly lay on his face. His one hand lay on her hip, the other slowly combing the tangles out of her pink hair. Their tongues had come together, neither one of them more dominate than the other and their bodies were pushed flush against each other.

Some how they made it inside the small house; the door had been shut already and her hands were working frantically at the buttons of his shirt. They fumbled around with each other's clothing both attempting to get the other person's off first: neither of the pair had ever done this before as Naruto never felt as passionate around his only other lover as he did with Sakura and Sakura never felt the time was right to do it with Sasuke.

They had made it to the bed, each as naked as the other as Naruto picked Sakura up and gently laid her on the bed, never once breaking the kiss. He finally pulled back and smoothed away a lock of her hair from her face. Sakura looked radiant the way the pale moonlight caressed her nude form, deepening the pocket of shadows between her breasts and emphasizing her smooth legs. She was perfect; he told her so. She responded to his comment with a kiss.

It was their first time. He didn't know what to do: when he should do it, how he should do it, how long he should wait. It was all a mystery to his mind; however an animal instinct kicked in as soon as he felt her breast connect with his chest. Naruto ran his hands slowly over her body, his mouth still actively participating with hers and a voice in his mind telling him to stop. Slowly he leaned her back against the plush pillows which adorned her bed. His one hand now lay on her breast, slowly massaging it and every once in a while moving one digit slowly over her perked nipple, provoking a moan from the female beneath him.

His other hand moved lower, slowly moving around between the folds and finally delving into the center of her heat causing her to moan even louder. Naruto was in pain: he shouldn't do this, but he couldn't stop. She was writhing underneath him as he carefully molded her the way an artist did clay. Naruto slowly removed his fingers as he looked Sakura in the eye, silently asking her if she was ready. She steadily peered back at him as he moved towards the extreme heat radiating from her. Finally, with one push, he thrust into her. Her fingers, which had been slowly moving up and down his back, dug into his shoulders from the intense pain as he stayed still in her, waiting for her sign to continue. It didn't take long for her to get over the pain; she always did have a high pain thresh-hold, both physically and emotionally. He slowly began making love to her.

It was their first time together, their first time with anyone at all. The air was sweet and tinged with the smell of their mingling skins. Naruto didn't know how long it lasted; he couldn't even give estimation to the duration. Having sex with Sakura that night was the best night of his life pathetic screw-up life so far. He had only _dreamed_ of ever touching her, kissing her, loving her and in returned being loved back because he knew her heart belonged to Sasuke and he was content to just be in her life.

With one last push, he finally released everything he felt into her: his pleasure, his pain, his longing, but most of all, his love for her and for who she is. He could finally touch her, kiss her, and love her just as he wanted, just as he _wished_ he could for the entire time he had know her.

Naruto rolled over to one side of his bed as Sakura lay on the other side, slightly panting from her own climax as well. His hand wandered over to her face and gently began caressing it, the pads just barely grazing over her cheek bone continuing down the side of her face, over her bare shoulder, down her arm, and to her hand. Sakura let out a small sigh at the light touch as her eyes fluttered closed and she shifted closer to his warm body. Naruto slowly draped one arm across her waist, effectively pulling her closer, and cushioned his head on the nook of his other arm.

He inhaled deeply. All he could smell was her scent: her shampoo, conditioner, and soap mingling with the smell of the small sheen of sweat that covered her body. Her fingers lightly danced over his arm, slowing down as the night wore on and exhaustion took over her body.

Sakura's breathing became slow and even; her heart rate, once so rapid, was now just a slow, monotonous thumping. Naruto was still awake, but just barely so. To say that he had been looking forward to this night since he met her would be an understatement: he had been waiting since he was born to make love to the woman he loved and now he had finally accomplished that. Naruto slightly smiled and buried his head into his love's hair, inhaling her essence once again. He pulled back, still smiling. He was with her. He was finally with Sakura, whom he had always loved, but she had never returned. Naruto pulled Sakura closer, his eyes fluttering closed into a pleasant sleep.

The light that poured into the room illuminated the inside of his eyelids and woke him from his serene slumber. Of course, leave it Sakura to choose a room facing the East as her bedroom, he thought, bemused. He pulled the woman in question even closer as his thoughts about last night entered his mind. Sakura was his, now. And really he actually had to thank that bastard for it.

His mind froze and his stomach dropped. That bastard, Sasuke: Sakura loved him. And she was broken hearted last night because of him. He looked at Sakura, her face still slept though clearly her dreams were not peaceful: she had been crying in her sleep. Broken hearted and emotionally fragile and he _slept_ with her. Not only did he have sex with her, but he was the one who instigated it. It was official: he had just hit the lowest of lows.

Naruto released Sakura and sat up in bed. What had he done? He took a short glance at Sakura, relieved to see she was still not awake. Yet. He knew that she would rise soon: she always rose soon after sunrise, no matter how horrible of a day she had before. Naruto frantically ran his fingers through his hair, his ends sticking up as normal though slightly more mused than last night.

He pushed back the covers, careful not to wake her up, and threw on his underwear and jeans before striding out of the bedroom. He had to make this quick: he looked around for a pen and a piece of paper. Finding both next to her phone, he quickly jotted down a message, stuck it on the refrigerator and left silently through the door.

* * *

Sakura frowned. Something was definitely off. It wasn't that she was naked in her bed, or that her eyes would barely crack open enough to allow her to see because of all her tears she shed last night. No, the thing that was wrong was the fact that she was lying in bed, naked, but there was no naked _someone_, more specifically Naruto, beside her.

Her stomach wouldn't sit still as she roamed around her small house searching for the blond knucklehead in her robe. Sakura peered around the corner of the wall, hoping and praying that he'd be there, smiling face beaming back at her just playing some horrible game of hide-and-go-seek with her.

Her stomach dropped lower. Maybe in the kitchen then, making some pork ramen for breakfast, she thought as her feet padded over to the kitchen. There were no sounds and no smells coming from the kitchen and, as she peered around the corner again, the kitchen was empty.

She sighed, running her fingers through her unique locks. Her mind processed the places he could be: his house getting fresh clothing or the store buying ramen (Sakura would never keep the stuff at her house) when her eyes landed on an unfamiliar sheet of paper stuck to her refrigerator.

Questioningly, she moved towards it before ripping it from the fridge with a fierce determination to get rid of the (probably) useless paper. Curiosity got the best of her as her eyes moved to the paper, taking in the sloppily written words inscribed on the sheet. Sakura's eyes narrowed. This was Naruto's handwriting, only so much worse. It looked like he was trembling as he wrote it down. "Sakura," it read, "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. Last night it…it was a mistake. You'll never have to see me again."

He signed it 'Love, Naruto'. _**Love **_Naruto. Sakura's legs once a trembling mass now gave out on her. That fucker, she thought, that **fucker** _used_ me. Her hands trembled, clenching upon themselves suffocating the note: the _memo_ more like. Three sentences: three fucking sentences. He couldn't even stay and say it to her face or at least write a paragraph. She now held the note – the memo – tighter as she wrapped her arms around her stomach, head bent over tears pouring from her eyes.

He told her he loved her. Sakura bit back a sob. He said he'd always be there for her. Lies: all he told her were lies. Her body trembled all over now, fury encasing her being. She could only think one thing: revenge. Revenge upon Naruto because he, he _used_ her. He lied to her and _used_ her. At least Sasuke-kun told her what she should expect. "That fucker," she whispered, head still bent over and arms still around her stomach, "will wish he never even _touched_ me."


	3. Chapter 3

Joy of joys, I have updated yet again. This will be the final chapter of the ever so controversial (seriously, just _read_ some of the comments) _Pity_ series. Well, final unless I get very, and I mean _very_, compelling, inspirational reviews that cause me to write another chapter. My thanks to all those who have reviewed, I believe I have replied to everyone one of your reviews if you were a member on this site, and if I haven't I deeply apologize. Special props to **Chelsea-chee **and **NarutoHasYou** for the ever so entertaining insulplimentary reviews. Seriously, they made my day. (Insulplimentary is not a real word, but a mix of insult and complimentary.) And so, cutting my ramblings short, here is the last chapter, though I might fiddle with the ending later. I didn't really like it, but I've been sitting on this for a while trying to think up something - without success, might I add. So enjoy.

Disclaimer: Don't own.

* * *

Sakura hadn't slept in quite some time. Not since she had extracted her revenge on Naruto. Her eyes bagged over in an obscene way and when she went into work yesterday she had four people ask her if she was alright and another three cringe at the sight of her.

She sighed wirily and made her way to the liquor store. Sakura had heard from her boss at the hospital where she worked that alcohol was the best way to get to sleep and, from the way her boss always seemed to be caught snoozing on the job, Sakura believed her.

Her boss took one look at the tired girl and proclaimed that she needed a night out on the town, but a night out on the town was exactly the thing she didn't want to do. A night out meant she would have to go to a crowed bar in order to get the prescribed booze and watch men pick up women, or women pick up men, and the whole scene would be too familiar for her liking.

Naruto's face of rejected had burned unto her eyelids. It was all she could see when she closed her eyes to sleep at night and all she could think about during the day. She was just in her actions: she thought this with conviction when the feelings of guilt would claw their way through the lining of her stomach and cause the bile to rise to the top of her throat. She had to constantly remind herself of the conviction, though.

Her friends tried to help her; tried to understand what was going through the previously energetic woman's head. On the first day Ino tried to perk her up by getting her riled up, throwing some harsh comments about the quality of her hair across the hall towards her. Unfortunately Sakura merely replied by picking up a strand of her pink locks, glancing at it and letting it fall limply back as she shrugged lightly and walked away.

On the second day an energetic Ten Ten bounced up to her and began fervently talking about interesting items she spied on her last trip to the mall and asked if Sakura would like to come shopping with her later that day. Sakura replied with a damp no and said she had some work she had to catch up on.

On the third day Hinata quietly moved over to Sakura, asking her if she would like to join her for tea this Friday and maybe go watch a movie which promised crushes, tears, problems, and finally solutions. Sakura twitched her lips into what she hoped was a passable, albeit small, smile, lightly shook her head and declined the small, but meaningful, offer.

Hinata smiled a smile of similar proportions, nodded, and left. If anyone knew about heart break it was that girl and maybe, maybe if it had been any other boy besides her best friend and possible lover, she would have taken her up on her loved. If it had been just Sasuke breaking up with her she would have taken her up on her offer and taken Ten Ten up on the shopping trip and retorted to Ino's barb on her hair.

But it wasn't and she just wanted to go home and lie on the bed where she and he once laid together.

It probably didn't help that Hinata's smile reminded her of her own and that even if she did wish to take up the gentle girl's offer she couldn't as the same boy caused both of the girls' pain and that she probably had some hand in Hinata's heartbreak the way a bystander who had witnessed a bus hit a man had a hand in the man's most unfortunate death.

If only the bystander reached out and pulled the man out of the way instead of being blinded by the shiny sports car in the other lane; if only Sakura had realized that she had liked Naruto while Sasuke would never return her feelings.

On the fourth day Sakura drifted through the day, changing IV bags and taking temperatures became a second nature to her much like breathing and bathing. No one said anything of notable quality to her aside from the fact that Naruto seemed to have faded into a shadow. At least her revenge worked, even if the cost was her liveliness.

Much of the same occurred on the fifth day and Sakura couldn't even remember attending work on the sixth.

Today was the seventh day: happy anniversary to her and her revenge. She couldn't remember when she ate last, though it didn't matter as she only required one thing at the moment: alcohol. Maybe something hard and sharp so it would burn on the way down, closing off her wounds much like you would with a recently amputated limb to cauterize the wound and save the person.

A bell chimed cheerily above the door as she entered the shoddy, run down liquor store. It was a misplaced sound in the dim light and seemed to reverberate off the many bottles all lined up on the shelves in their multitude of colors.

The shelves were high and, though there were only three aisles, there were many types of hard liquor to choose from. Who would have thought there were twenty-three different brands of gin and seventeen different brands of vodka to choose from? Sakura normally was not a heavy drinker, much preferring to stay sober when at all possible.

She strolled down the towering lanes of the aisle, glancing to either side of her when a bottle shape or color caught her eye. Blue, green, orange, clear, burgundy, and red liquids flashed on either side of her, making her feel in some strange fairy tale involving wide-grinning cats and marching cards. Sakura half expected a rabbit to pop out from behind the larger bottle of liquor (which she assumed to be the economy sized ones which you could buy in bulk to save money) and chide its-self about being late.

Sakura turned the corner quickly, still unsure of which beverage to choose (her boss suggested her drink of choice: sake), running flush into a hard body.

* * *

When he first felt a small, compact body hit his and begin its downward decent in the direction of the floor, instincts took over and he grabbed the thin arm to stop the girl from falling further.

To say that he was in shock when he saw her was an understatement. He was speechless, quite literally, and awkward to boot. He hadn't washed his clothes in a few days and was currently garbed in grey sweat pants and an orange t-shirt which, ironically, sported the logo for laundry detergent and had a few small holes and random stains throughout the fabric.

He stared at the woman, not sure of what to do, what to say, how to say it. He blinked, finally realizing that, now that she was fully balanced once again, his supporting grip was no longer needed and quickly, almost to the point of being uncoordinated, removed his hand. She blinked back; her green eyes seemed dimmed slightly, though whether it was due to the poor light quality or her frazzled appearance, he wasn't sure.

Her eyes had widened a fraction at the sight of him. He supposed it was from his own horrid appearance from his wild hair, the stains adorning his shirt and baggy sweat pants to his own similarly shaded eyes. Though, he never thought that it would actually cause someone to refuse to look at him.

Naruto half expected her to flee as soon as she was sure she wouldn't fall back over, but she stayed. Sakura looked half torn between running away and staying, choosing the latter almost as an obligation or acknowledgment to the friendship and bond they once shared, one that he sorely missed.

Naruto took this borrowed time as a way to observe her health: he had heard she wasn't doing well. Her sick was a sickly color and looked as if he touched it would stick to his skin, her eyes were dimmed, as he mentioned before, but this time he was sure that it wasn't just due to the lighting. Sakura's hair lay limp on her head, having neither the normal bounce nor flip that it normally did. She looked drained of life and was noticeably skinnier than before and seemed to have developed a habit of biting her chapped lips.

Naruto's stomach sank as he thought about the possibility that his actions caused her appearance. Guilt settled heavier in the pit of his stomach, churning like the sea during a category five tempest. He needed to say something, anything, before the guilt consumed him entirely.

* * *

Sakura couldn't look at him. She didn't need to because her eyes already had burned how he looked at that exact moment into her mind. His golden hair, while still in spikes, seemed to be slightly wilted at the top, and his lips were curved into a small frown. Bags, much like her own, adorned his eyes and his skin was a tinged a sickly grey pallor underneath his usual tan. His blue eyes seemed dead in comparison to the normal amount of emotion which normally filled them and his grip burned her arm as he helped steady her.

She wanted to flee, to run from the place. Sakura couldn't face him. She couldn't look into his dead eyes, in powerful and dominating the way she was before, and feel fine. Inside her body began trembling, her stomach tying itself into tighter knots and her eyes avoiding contact with his, though longingly wanting to stray to his body and take it in, no matter how much pain it caused her.

Finally, just when she couldn't take it anymore, just as she was about to turn and flee, he said something.

"Sorry, Sakura, I'm so, so sorry." Her eyes flashed to him involuntarily, his head was bent down, his body already moving past hers in an attempt to leave. His statement broke her heart. Her resolved fell.

"N-no," she stuttered out, tears once again infiltrating her eyes, "don't go. Not again. Don't leave me again." Her hand reached out to find his, to grab on, to keep him with her.

She didn't understand: why did he look so guilty? He had done nothing, she understood now. It was her, she was the horrid one: she was the one who should be apologizing. Not him; never him.

Sakura needed Naruto, more than he needed her. Without him her days were cold and monotonous. Without him there was no sun, no rain, and no moon. Without him she was dead. Sakura could face any number of challenges, the break-up with Sasuke, the termination of her job, the death of a family member, as long as he was by her side.

Sakura clung to Naruto's hand with desperation, hoping that he wouldn't shake her off, hoping that the wounds she had inflicted upon him were not so deep that he couldn't look past them to see how much she needed him.

His fingers wrapped back around hers. Naruto now stood, facing her, his face questioning.

* * *

When he felt her hand grab his Naruto paused in his tracks. He never dreamt that he would feel her hold him again, to touch his hand, or to even acknowledge that she could just reach out and grab him.

Her grip was firm, contrasting greatly to the current state of her being, and seemed to be full of conviction to never let go again. He grasped her fingers back, turning to look at her, take her in. God, he missed her and, while he still didn't understand why she clutched his hand, he didn't question her grip or her words.

She still refused to look at him for longer than two seconds, and while he was happy she was looking at him, he couldn't help but wish she would look at him like she used to. Her eyes still held tears, and, finally, she broke the silence that surrounded the two. "Please," she paused, lifting her eyes to finally meet his, "don't leave me again. I, I understand now. You just wanted to make me happy. You thought that you had made a mistake; you thought I would think you used me and that I was going to hate you in the morning. You thought it would be better if you just left, so I wouldn't have to see your face and remember what had transpired and hate you. So you left, thinking I would see that you used me during my most dire need of comfort.

But the thing is," she paused, stepping closer to him, "I didn't hate you. I was happy, happy that I finally realized that I liked you, that I always liked you. Happy that I found someone who loved me, someone I could, in time, love to the same intensity that they loved me with. I was happy that I _found_ you. When you left, I couldn't understand. I couldn't process what was happening and…"

He cut her off, pulling her into a hug, one arm wrapping around waist for the first time in a week, the other reaching up and cupping the back of her head. Naruto closed his eyes; for the first time he understood what was going through her head last week. He had pushed it off, her actions to him, thinking it retribution for his sin against her; he was wrong. Naruto gently placed his head on her shoulder, still embracing the thin woman against his fuller frame.

"I missed you." She said, finally laying her head on his warm shoulder.

Naruto clutched her tighter to him in a silent promise. "Not as much as I missed you."


End file.
